A Safe Haven

A dramatic, detailed account of the events leading up to the State of Israel’s creation and President Truman’s controversial 1948 decision to recognize it.

“[This] revelatory account of Truman's vital contributions to Israel's founding. . .is told. . . with an elegance informed by thorough research.” —Wall Street Journal

“Even knowing how the story ends, A Safe Haven had me sitting on the edge of my seat.” —Cokie Roberts

On May fourteen, 1948, under the stewardship of President Harry S. Truman, the United States became the first nation to recognize the State of Israel—just moments after sovereignty had been declared in Jerusalem. But it was hardly a foregone conclusion that America would welcome the creation of this new country. While acknowledging this as one of his proudest moments, Truman also admitted that no issue was more controversial or more complex than the problem of Israel.

Impeccably researched and brilliantly told, based on never-before-used archival material, A Safe Haven is a suspenseful, moment-by-moment re-creation of this crossroads in U.S.–Israeli relations and Middle Eastern politics.

“A Safe Haven is an outstanding achievement. This is certain to become an essential work for students, journalists, and statesmen—indeed, anyone interested in understanding Israel’s origins.” —Michael Oren, author of Power, Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present and Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East.